McCaffrey bill would double city exemptions for vets to $4,000

Posted
Thursday, April 25, 2013 1:00 pm

Sen. Michael J. McCaffrey (D-Dist. 29, Warwick) has introduced legislation allowing the Warwick City Council to double the tax break for veterans.

“Our veterans don’t receive enough credit for what they did to protect Rhode Island and our country,” McCaffrey said in a statement. “While my colleagues and I are working to remedy a slow-moving economic recovery, I realize that a lot of our veterans have fallen on tough times and need assistance. A lot of people are still taking a financial hit from the recession, so I’m hoping this legislation will allow the City Council more freedom to ease that burden on some of our bravest men and women. These are the people who put themselves on the front lines to defend our freedom. We must always remember what they sacrificed for us.”

The bill (2013-S 0673) would enable the City Council of Warwick to provide a real and personal property tax exemption of up to $4,000 for veterans living in the city. Currently, the council is allowed to create a similar tax exemption for up to $2,000. City Tax Assessor Ken Mallette said the exemption would cost taxpayers an additional $320,000 a year in lost tax revenues.

Introduced in March, the legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance.

Comments

Its always great to support our veterans. Doubling the exemption is a huge step. If the city can find a way to cut half the $320,000 out of the budget then lets do it. That way the other residents would split the cost with the city. Currently a veteran pays no property tax at all if their home is valued $110,000 or less. Doubling that to $220,000 is a huge step and in a town like Warwick most vets won't have to pay anything . In Warwick the average home price is $152,000.

It's a great thing to help veterans out, but what about the non-union people. Who just work hard everyday for lower wages, The city of Warwick is getting out of hand. If it is not the high cost of using the sewer, it's property tax.

Patty, This isn't the problem. A bigger problem is that the city council won't charge a connect capable fee for people that refuse to hook up to the sewers. The city council refused to follow thru and now the people that actually follow the rules get the screws put to them with higher sewer fees. Not to mention the harm leech fields do to our beloved bay.